


I Never Knew

by thecolorofstars



Category: John Dies at the End - David Wong
Genre: Gen, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-01
Updated: 2012-12-01
Packaged: 2017-11-19 23:30:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/578827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecolorofstars/pseuds/thecolorofstars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave and I didn’t mean to step into the portal. We sort of fell into it by accident. It was a terrible place with a terrible feeling and a terrible sound, but the portal was way above our heads, so the only way to go was forward.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Never Knew

**Author's Note:**

> Based on an imagineyourotp prompt submitted to me by Nadiya.

Okay, so I don’t know how to do this at all. Dave was always the one to keep the journals and I just let him do that because it was sort of his thing. I tried to keep them a few times, but it felt too Dave to be me. Still, I want to at least make one entry before I die. At this point I know that it’s going to happen. This being isn’t a physical thing, so I can’t fight it physically. It runs on fear, so I can’t kill the source. All I can hope for at this point is to get him out. That’s all that I’ve ever hoped for.

It’s been seven years to the day since Dave disappeared. The search attempts weren’t much, it was just me standing in an empty field and screaming at the ditch in the ground where the portal had been. Amy joined at one point, but she assumed that he was dead and tried to move on. I guess Dave didn’t really have many friends. Alright, I knew that. Of course I knew that. If you’re friends with the dropout who smokes and drinks like he’s still in college and can’t keep a job, people tend to shy away from you. I always assumed that he only hung out with me because he didn’t have anyone else and after the thing in Vegas I figured it was because nobody else understood. That wasn’t the case, I guess. Somehow I meant more to him than that and I didn’t know until it was too late.

Dave and I didn’t mean to step into the portal. We sort of fell into it by accident, but it wasn’t our fault that we weren’t watching the ground for mysterious holes into different dimensions. The instant that we could get our bearings we knew that we weren’t going to find anyone waiting for us with golden statues or naked crowds. The whole thing was so confusing and harsh that we both had migraines building within moments. Some spots would be too dark to see into and others would be so bright and vivid my eyes would hurt. Worst of all, the dimension itself just _pulsed_ in a way that reminded me too much of a human heart. It was a terrible place with a terrible feeling and a terrible sound, but the portal was way above our heads, so the only way to go was forward.

Over what seemed like days, Dave and I wandered through the maze of a dimension. It took us just about a second too long to realize our jokes about a labyrinth were closer to reality than we expected. By the third cycle of light and dark periods, we found the middle of the maze. The monster thing transported us to the middle, close enough.

“You’re going to die.”

We had nothing on us. No guns, no knives, no sauce, not a single item that could be helpful to us with the possible exception of a paper clip that got instantly bent into the shape of a dolphin and thrown back at me.

“Who wants to go first?”

What I expected was for Dave to turn to me and try to discuss a plan. Find something stupidly perfect to do. He always came up with something, so when he stepped forward my last glow of hope dimmed into a horror darker than anything most of you have experienced. You can only feel that sheer terror as you’re watching your best friend, your only friend, walk into a death sentence because there’s no other way out.

“Brave boy. Stupid boy.”

He didn’t hesitate.

“I want to make a deal with you.”

The monster didn’t make a move to kill him. Instead, its rumbling voice appeared in our heads again.

“I’m interested.”

“I’ll stay here with you forever,” Dave offered, not skipping a beat. “You can kill me if you want or torture me if you don’t, I’ll take anything you could possibly throw at me on one condition.

“Dave,” I began to question, but was cut off by the monster.

“You’re really that dedicated to him?”

Shit.

“Of course.”

“Dave, you’re out of your mind!”

“Shut up, John.”

The monster laughed.

“What a beautiful tribute to the human race. I’ve caught a perfect specimen this time.”

“Dave,” I began again, stepping forward to pull him away and stumbling back as a warning shriek shattered my brain’s ear drums.

The conversation continued privately between the two of them. Dave answered out loud, agreeing to the terms and constantly reminding the monster that I would not be harmed. Every time I tried to move closer to him or say anything, the splitting pain returned. Within moments, I was on the ground writhing and shrieking in constant agony. It finally faded to a dull ache as their conversation ended and I curled into a ball, sobbing quietly and uncontrollably. I’m not always proud of the things that happened, but they did happen and for once I’m writing a completely true account of the story.

“Do we have a deal?”

“We have a deal. You have two minutes.”

I barely registered the meaning of the noises and let out a strangled whimper that may or may not have been a protest. Dave stepped back and crouched next to me, pulling me upright so that I could look him in the eye.

“John, what’s done is done and you need to deal with that, okay?” He said, grabbing my face so that I couldn’t turn away.

“I don’t want you to stay here,” I muttered, my voice raw from screaming. “Don’t I get a say in it?”

“No, you don’t. Sorry about that.”

Dave wiped at my tears with his thumbs, a flash of something showing on his face as he did. He tried to give a little smile and came up with a pained, sorrowful grin. He’s never been good at emotions. That’s the image that has been burned into my head for the past seven years.

A moment of silence followed before he began again.

“You’re going to be taken out of here and you’re not going to come back. If you ever do, I don’t think he’ll let anyone live.”

“You’re being a dick.”

“I’m saving you.”

How do you argue that with someone who’s about to give up their life for you?

“Bye, John.”

“Bye,” I repeated helplessly.

And I woke up in the ditch the portal had blasted into the ground.

I just told you all of that because right now I’m standing in front of the open portal. I don’t think I’m going to come back out of it, so I wanted to make sure that someone knew the full story. Dave kept journals of our encounters before the portal thing happened, so I attached them to this. You’ve got our whole story here, including a brief summary of what I’ve been doing in the past seven years that isn’t drinking or smoking.

Wish me luck.


End file.
